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60 seconds with … Stephen Gray

13 August 2008

Name: Stephen Gray
Org. Unit: Faculty of Law
Title: Lecturer and researcher

How long have you been with Monash University?

Just over two years.

Prior to working at Monash, where were you located and what was your role?

I taught law at Charles Darwin University, dealing as much as possible with Indigenous legal issues.

What challenges are ahead in your current role?

Being the best teacher and researcher I can, and also finding ways to make a broader contribution.

What has been the most interesting aspect of your time at Monash so far?

The highlight is probably the trip to the Monash University Sunway campus in Malaysia with a group of Clayton law students in June. Many of our guest speakers had been involved in Anwar Ibrahim's trial and other recent upheavals. It was a tumultuous two weeks in Malaysian politics and we were in a bubble on the crest of it.

What is it about your job that holds your interest or is particularly satisfying?

The chance to pursue things that I find interesting and to find ways of showing other people that they are interesting and worthwhile as well.

What is your favourite place in the world and why?

Waterfalls in Kakadu, a place called Tampaksiring in Bali, and the MCG.

What is the best piece of advice you have received?

Listen to other people's advice. Decide what you want to do and persevere with it. Somebody once said to me -- when I die, I want people to be able to write on my gravestone -- here lies X. He did his duty. I've never been sure whether he was joking.

What is something about yourself that most of your colleagues wouldn't know?

I once sang 'I'm an Intellectual' a parody version of former St Kilda player and stand-up comic Jacko's song 'I'm an Individual, you can’t fool me' dressed in a Geelong jumper in front of 500 law students at a lunchtime barbecue. I was very skinny at the time.